


Pain's Labyrinth

by Galen_Wordwyrm



Series: Scooby Falls [4]
Category: Ben 10 Series, Danny Phantom, Gravity Falls, Kolchak: The Night Stalker, Scooby Doo - All Media Types
Genre: Awkward Conversations, Character Study, Conversations, Crossovers & Fandom Fusions, F/F, F/M, Late Night Conversations, Light Angst, Multi, Quests
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-04-11
Updated: 2020-04-18
Packaged: 2021-03-02 04:41:02
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,244
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23589322
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Galen_Wordwyrm/pseuds/Galen_Wordwyrm
Summary: Who wants to go on a Unicorn Hunt?!
Relationships: Pacifica Northwest/Dipper Pines, Velma Dinkley/Marcie "Hot Dog Water" Fleach, Wendy Corduroy/Danny Fenton
Series: Scooby Falls [4]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1862383
Kudos: 9





	1. Chapter 1

Wendy and Lynn coasted to a stop outside the Mystery Shack and leaned the bikes against either side of a tree, Lynn swinging the daypack off her shoulders. The girls mounted the porch, and Wendy knocked on the door to the residential section before they entered. Both girls wore cut-off denim shorts, Wendy in a black tank top decorated with the House Stark direwolf, her green plaid shirt tied around her hips, and Lynn wearing a purple tank-top with a black cat mask on it.

“Just remember I’m with you all day at the mall, Tiffany!”, Pacifica Northwest said as she sat on the bottom of the steps that led upstairs, talking on her cellphone. “I don’t care what you do. If my parents call, we’re at the mall!” Pacifica hung up with a sharp exhalation, glancing up at the two older red-heads, tucking a strand of her blonde hair behind her ear.

“Everything alright?”, Lynn asked with raised eyebrow.

Pacifica nodded. “Yeah. I just needed a believable story so I can join in on the unicorn hunt.”

“Wait, I thought you and Mabel didn’t get along”, Wendy remarked, arm around Lynn’s hips.

Pacifica smirked. “She…kinda grows on you”, she admitted.

Gwen poked her head around the upstairs corner. “Lynn! I thought I heard you”, she grinned.

Lynn hoisted the daypack. “Two changes of clothes, as requested.” Pacifica took the pack from Lynn and trotted up the stairs.

Wendy liberated two Pitt sodas from the refrigerator, and motioned Lynn to follow her out to the porch where they sat on the old couch.

“So?”, Wendy asked.

“So, what?”, Lynn replied.

“Second thoughts?”, Wendy sipped her soda.

Lynn tucked Wendy’s bra strap under her tank-top. “Nope. You?”

“My dad will probably lose his mind when he finds out.” Wendy stared into the shadowed depths of the surrounding forest.

“There’s always Portland", Lynn suggested, taking a sip of her own soda.

“Only if you and Danny come with me", Wendy smiled a bit sadly.

Lynn put an arm around her girlfriend. “Lead on, MacDuff.”

“God, please don’t recite Shakespeare to me”, Wendy rolled her eyes. “It…kinda freaks me out.” 

Bright green eyes stared into Wendy’s jade ones with concern. “You are so going to tell me everything, Corduroy”, Lynn said, intertwining her fingers with Wendy's.

*-*-*

Gwen Tennyson trotted down the stairs to find Dipper sitting at the kitchen table idly flipping a small object in his fingers. “Oh hey, Gwen!”, he smiled, only slightly nervous. “I think you dropped this the other day”, he said, handing her the item.

A familiar faint tingle teased Gwen’s fingertips as she took it from him, inspecting it. “This is a Charm of Bezel!”, she exclaimed. “Where did you find it?!” Delight and caution flickered across her face.

“On the porch, by the couch", Dipper explained. “I can’t find any of the markings on it in the journal, that’s why I thought it was yours. Is it important?”

“Is it ever! Thanks, Dipper!” Gwen hugged him tightly.

“Ahem!”, Pacifica announced herself, strutting into the kitchen, dressed in pale blue capris and a two-tone blue Henley shirt. “Just because I’m borrowing your clothes, Tennyson, that doesn’t mean you get to borrow my boyfriend!”

Gwen smirked, hip cocked, arms crossed confidently. “Even if we toss for him?”

Pacifica smirked right back, mimicking Gwen's posture. Where Gwen looked intimidating, Pacifica appeared sultry. She flipped her index finger, palm up, to point at Gwen. “You do know your sister is making out with Dipper's previous crush, right?”

“Pacifica, you kissed Gwen last night", Dipper deadpanned.

Pacifica tapped her chin while Gwen blushed. “Hmm. That’s right”, she smiled. 

Ben wandered into the kitchen, hair tousled from sleeping, fiddling with the Omnitrix. “Come on, come on! Give me something besides Ghostfreak and Blitzerwolf…”, he muttered, turning the watch face, which still glowed purple.

“Are you sure that’s a good idea?”, Dipper asked with some concern. “Gruncle Ford knows a lot about alien technology, and even he's cautious.”

“Dipper's right, dweeb”, Gwen chimed in. “Every time you screw around with that thing it creates a problem.”

“Wait. You’re telling me that tacky toy can change you into different things?”, Pacifica sneered. “That’s a laugh.”

“I’m not the one wearing my cousins cast offs", Ben quipped, grinning.

“Cast offs?!”, Pacifica snarled, eye twitching. “I make these look good!”

“Keep it up, Ben", his cousin said in a sickly sweet tone. “You’re pissing off someone who could make our time here very unpleasant. That is, unless you want to spend the day counting the paper plates in Rust-bucket with grandpa. Instead of asking Dipper about what he and his Gruncle are doing today.”

Ben glanced at Dipper. “So, what are you doing today?” 

“Gruncle Ford said he had something to show me in his laboratory, and he’s pretty hush-hush about it", Dipper replied. 

Stan Pines leaned into the kitchen, which was starting to get crowded. “Hey Ben, if your looking for something to do, Soos is trying to get a raccoon out of the chimney. It hilarious! You should give him a hand!”, Stan cackled.

“A dweeb with rabies. No, thank you”, Gwen snickered as she headed for the porch.

Outside, Gwen found Lynn with her arm around Wendy, their heads close together. 

“Oh, um, am I interrupting?”, Gwen asked hesitantly, looking at the two older girls.

Lynn shook her head. “It’s okay.”

A pause.

“I thought Wendy was dating ghost-boy", Gwen noted.

“I am", the long-haired teen answered. “And now I’m dating Lynn, and we’re both dating Danny.”

“Oh.”

Ben clattered out on the porch before Gwen could ask any other questions. “Hey Lynn, can I use your backpack and bike? Grandpa Max said there's something he wants to look at.”

“It’s Danny's bike, but I guess so”, Lynn said.

“Cool! Oh, Mabel said they’ll be ready to go in a couple minutes”, Ben relayed as he darted back inside.

Gwen turned back to her older self and her girlfriend, smiling. “You make a cute couple.”

Wendy grinned. “You should see when we stand with Danny in the middle when he goes ghost. All we need is a red maple leaf to make the Canadian flag.”

Gwen and Lynn burst out laughing at the thought.


	2. Chapter 2

Dipper had disappeared into the basement with Ford Pines on a mysterious errand, and Ben Tennyson had taken Lynn's borrowed bike to return to town.

Mabel's expedition into the forest beyond the Mystery Shack consisted of Grenda, Candy Chiu, Wendy Corduroy, Lynn and Gwen Tennyson, and Pacifica Northwest, who was already complaining about the amount of walking and the prospect of bugs. Dipper had loaned Mabel his precious Journal to guide them to the unicorn’s grove.

The deeper into the forest they went, the more difficult it became, and Wendy resorted to sweeping cuts made with her short hafted broad-bladed axe to clear a path.

“Why do you carry an axe?”, Pacifica wondered aloud.

“My dad sends me on survival courses all the time", Wendy explained. “Wants me to be self-sufficient.”

Lynn and Gwen hung towards the back of the group. “Gwen, there’s something you need to know. There’s three of us now.”

Gwen glanced at her older self, concerned. “How did Grandpa take it?”

“Better than the news we're dating a reporter", Lynn grimaced.

“WHAT?!”, Gwen yelped, causing Pacifica to look over her shoulder at the Tennyson girls.

Lynn sighed. “It’s complicated, but last night Grandpa, Gwendolyn, Velma and Marcie, along with this Kolchak guy all got trapped in a dream together by someone, something, calling itself ‘Bill Cipher', reliving a classic thriller movie from the point of view of the characters. Time in a dream is weird and subjective, so what a few hours were to us was weeks or months to them. Apparently we, that is Gwendolyn, really hit it off with this Kolchak.”

“So I'm, we're, I mean, Gwendolyn is older than both of us?”, Gwen asked, hopping over a fallen log.

Lynn nodded, stepping over the same log. “About thirty. Her Ben is known as ‘Ben Ten Thousand'. You remember him. I know I do.”

“Oh. Him. Her”, Gwen grumbled, pushing a branch away from her face. “Well, at least I know what I’m going to look like at that age.” Lynn chuckled.

“Hey, don’t get left behind, slowpokes !”, Wendy called. Lynn and Gwen hurried to catch up.

*-*-*

Ben flipped down the kickstand, leaning the bike near Rust-bucket’s door, and went up the steps. “What’s up, Grandpa Max?”

Max Tennyson, in his typical lurid Hawaiian shirt, was seated at the RV's dining table, Gwen’s laptop open and powered up, adapter cables snaking from it.

“Ben. You’re here. Good.” Max motioned for Ben to sit opposite him at the table. “I haven’t had a chance to tell the girls yet, but I think it’s important for you to know we can’t go home.”

Ben looked down at the table, processing the information, eyes darting as he considered the implications. “Is it because of the Omnitrix? I might endanger mom and dad?”

Max smiled, proud Ben for his reasoning. “That might have been part of it, if we were where we belonged, in our home timeline. The problem is, this isn’t our timeline, or even our dimension. I’ve been doing some investigation. Bellwood doesn’t exist here. Neither do we. I’m not in any database, government or otherwise. Neither are you or Gwen. Or Lynn for that matter, up until six weeks ago.”

Ben sat quietly, thinking. 

Max continued. “I have some other important information you need to know.”

“I already know that Sumo Slammers doesn’t exist here”, Ben interjected.

“I’m getting to that", Max smiled. “Right now, I need you to understand another Gwen turned up last night.”

“What?!”, Ben yelled. “No fair! Aaaaarrrrg!”

Max chuckled, understanding. “Calm down. Gwendolyn, as she calls herself, is about thirty, and quite an accomplished magic user.”

“Oh. Her. We’ve met. Long story”, Ben deadpanned.

“I figured as much”, Max nodded. “I know it’s a lot for you to process, especially at a time when you're already preoccupied. I’ve been giving it a lot of thought, and I’ve decided we should settle down, build a home here, because it looks like we're here for the duration.” 

Ben sat quietly for once, thinking. He'd never see his friends at school again, never go to that school again. Mom and dad, gone in an instant, along with his entire family except Gwen. Well, Gwens. And Grandpa Max.

“This is an awful lot to think about, grandpa”, Ben said, hands on the table. “I know Gwen and I argue a lot. And I sometimes provoke her. It’s going to be weird with a teenage version her around. And now a grown up?!” Ben looked at the RV’s ceiling, hands imploring. “I’ll never have any fun!”

“You get along with Dipper and his sister pretty good don’t you?”, Max inquired. 

“Well, yeah", Ben nodded. “But they’re going back to Piedmont in like, a week.”

“That does present a problem, doesn’t it?”

Ben sighed, accepting his life. “Mabel is fun to hang out with.”

“Well, at least our phones work here, so you can keep in touch with them”, Max offered. “Now, about Sumo Slammers. There’s no mention of it anywhere. Which means, if we are very careful, and we play it smart, we just set ourselves up for life.” 

“What do you mean?”

Max spent the next few hours explaining copyright law, coding signatures, and intellectual property rights…

*-*-*

“Stop!”, Mabel insisted. “This is it! The magic part of the forest.” She consulted the Journal. “Let’s see…The gnome tavern is over there, the fairy nail salon is over there, but it says to summon the unicorn, one must bellow this ancient chant droned only by the deepest-voiced druids of old.”

“On it!", Grenda said, taking the book from Mabel. She studied the open page for a moment, then began singing in a basso-profundo tone. “Oy-oyoy-oyoyoy...”

“Ten bucks says nothing happens", Wendy smirked.

“I’ll take that bet!”, Mabel grinned.

“Double-or-nothing!”, Lynn waved.

The ground shook, and a grime-encrusted, moss covered henge of stone hewn from the living rock majestically rose from the ground to tower over the group of girls. Lynn and Gwen could feel, almost taste the surge of magical energy in the area, hair rising in primal response on the back of their necks. Mabel and Wendy gasped in surprise.

Massive plank doors of age-darkened wood split from ancient trees swung wide to permit their entry to the sacred space beyond. 

“The paintings air-brushed on the side of vans were true!”, Mabel gushed in delight.

In the enchanted glade beyond, a glorious cloud-white unicorn with a rainbow-hued mane and tail posed majestically, tossing it’s head and neighing.

“Mother of mothers!”, exclaimed Grenda.

“Queen of dreams!”, Candy whispered.

“No way!”, Wendy complained.

Gwen and Pacifica stood slack-jawed in astonishment.

Mabel held up her hand, demanding. “Eh, eh.” 

Wendy grudgingly placed a ten dollar bill in Mabel's palm, glaring at a grinning Lynn.

{Harķ!}, the falsetto voice echoed in their minds. {Visitors to my realm of enchantment!}

“Ohmigosh, ohmigosh, ohmigosh!”, Mabel gushed, hands to her cheeks. “What’s your name?”

{I am Celestabelleabethabelle, last of my kind}, the magical beast announced. {Come in, come in. Just take off your shoes. I have a whole thing about shoes.}

Mabel, Grenda, Candy, Lynn, and Gwen kicked off their shoes.

{Ah, ah! I’m talking to everyone.}

Wendy and Pacifica grudgingly removed their shoes as well.

Lynn pecked Wendy on the cheek while Mabel was explaining their quest to the unicorn. “I’m going to take Gwen and look around a bit. This might be my only chance to explore a stable dimensional gate.”

“Yeah, babe. Be safe", Wendy nodded.

Pacifica fell into step beside the Tennyson girls, who raised eyebrows at her. “Unicorns are only interested in the pure of heart. So that’s me off the hook.”

Lynn scoffed. “You, blondie? You’re not old enough to have gotten in that kind of trouble.”

Pacifica looked at the ground as they delved farther under the boughs of the unicorn grove. “You don’t know my family…”

“Well someone is certainly a gloomy little sort, isn’t she?”, the overly cheerful and solicitous male voice inquired unseen from above them.

Lynn took a half step back in a defensive stance, summoning mana in a sphere around her right hand. Gwen dropped into a perfect kata, ready to defend a startled Pacifica. 

“Who’s there?!”, Lynn demanded.

“Just a friend. Rather, someone who would be your friend. If you let me, that is…”, the voice offered, laden with hidden promise. “I’m always being reminded that friendship is the most amazing thing in the world.”

“Show yourself!”, Gwen challenged the unseen presence. “Unless you’re scared of getting beaten by a girl!”

Pacifica, with her severely limited and recently won knowledge of paranormal beings spoke up. “Uh, maybe it’s not such a good idea to make whoever lives in a magical grove mad at us?”

“You see?”, the voice gloated. “Some people are willing to give others a chance.”

Gwen and Lynn relaxed. Slightly. “Fine. Would you please come out where we can see you?”, Lynn agreed.

Two gleaming ruby eyes appeared, one much larger than the other. “And you won’t scream and throw nasty magic balls at me?”

Gwen gritted her teeth. “Why would we scream?”

“Well, I don’t look anything like you. And you, if I may be honest, are quite remarkably unusual to me.”

“You can’t be any worse than a flaming ghost with an axe in his head", Pacifica admitted.

“Oh, that sounds simply awful", the voice behind the eyes sympathized.

“Will you come out now?”, Gwen asked.

“And you promise you won’t attack me?”

“We promise", Lynn nodded.

“Well in that case…”

The creature that twisted into existence above them on a thick branch was a chimerical patchwork of serpent, goat, horse, eagle, lion, and deer, with a black head and a white mane and beard, containing the two madly staring ruby eyes on a body of gleaming tan, with a long sinuous tail, easily as long as the three girls put together. One gleaming fang protruded from under it’s upper lip, and a mismatched horn and branched antler adorned it’s skull.

“Oh", Pacifica grinned. Then fainted dead away.

“Well at least she didn’t scream", the creature said.

The Tennyson girls tended to Pacifica while the unusual beast descended from its perch.

“Are you Bill Cipher?”, Lynn demanded.

“Bill-who-now?”, the creature smiled. “What is a ‘bill-cipher'? I don’t think I’ve ever seen one of those.”

“Bill is an evil triangle who wants to destroy the world", Lynn explained, annoyed.

The beast reared up on its hind legs, tapping it’s chin with a talon. “Well that’s not good. I like the world. And if a bill-cipher destroys the world, what’s the fun in trying to take it over?”

“Guess who just made the ‘do-not-trust’ list?”, Gwen muttered.

“Oh, but I’m completely trustworthy, once I’ve given my word!”, the creature protested, grinning. “Just ask my friends!”

“Why would we trust your friends when you won’t even tell us who you are?”, Lynn pointed out.

“Oh, didn’t I introduce myself? That must have been very rude of me.” The beast extended a paw. “I’m Discord. And you are…?”

“Oh, um, hi. I’m Lynn Tennyson", she said. “That’s my…sister, Gwen.”

“Liar.”

“Excuse me?!”, Gwen barked.

Discord crossed it’s upper limbs, annoyed. “If you’re going to lie to me, we can’t be friends. I know a liar when I hear one. I was a liar my entire life. For all you know, I'm lying right now!”

“I say trust him. It.”, Pacifica groaned, sitting up.

“And who are you, hmm? Another ‘sister'? Or a third cousin twice removed?”

“Please. Don’t mistake a Northwest for these commoners”, Pacifica scoffed.

“Oh I like you!”, Discord announced, scrambling close to the blonde debutante. “You’re my new best friend!”

“Wonderful”, Pacifica deadpanned.

“Oooo, and sarcastic! Brilliant!” Discord turned haughtily to Lynn and Gwen. “See? Goldie here is honest with me. Unlike you liars.” Discord patted and dusted Pacifica clean, ignoring her attempts to brush him off. “Would you like some tea, maybe a bite to eat, new best friend?”

Pacifica shrugged. “I guess so?”, she muttered before Lynn could protest, and a small table with two chairs appeared, the table laden with teapot, cups, and a plate of fancy cookies. Discord sat, pouring tea, behaving like an old mother.

“Pacifica, don’t eat or drink anything!” Lynn yelled in warning.

Discord snapped it’s fingers and a gag appeared around Lynn’s mouth. “Hush!”, he chided. “It’s perfectly safe. For you, dear friend. I give you my word.” Discord sniffed at Lynn and Gwen. “I wouldn’t trust a word coming from those liars.”

“We're not liars”, Gwen barked.

“Well then tell us your secret”, Discord said equitably. “Real friends don’t keep secrets from each other, right, Goldie?”

“My name is Pacifica.”

Discord blinked. “You’re certain?”  


“Pacifica Elise Northwest. Only child of Preston and Priscilla Northwest.”

“Oh.” Discord took a moment to ponder. “Well, those two carrot-heads are still liars.”

Gwen’s shoulders slumped. This was going to make things so much harder. “I’m Gwen Tennyson. That’s also me, Gwen Tennyson, just older. My, our, Grandpa Max calls her, the older me, ‘Lynn' to keep things from getting too confusing.” 

Pacifica froze, cookie halfway to her mouth. “Wha-?”

Discord frowned. “I liked it better when you were lying.”


End file.
